Purchase completes Des Plaines River Trail

Gregory TrotterTribune reporter

The final piece of the Des Plaines River Trail may not seem like much – only about three-tenths of a mile – but it's been a long-time coming.

Lake County Forest Preserves commissioners were overjoyed to add the missing piece of trail on Tuesday morning, unanimously approving the purchase of Lincolnshire property that has long been privately owned, said Ann Maine, president of the board of commissioners.

"Everyone wanted to make the motion and everyone wanted to second it," said Maine, of Lincolnshire, who has served on the Lake County board for about 12 years.

The purchase completes a long-standing vision of the forest preserves district to provide continuous trail access from Russell Road in Wadsworth, near the Wisconsin border, down to Lake Cook Road, where it meets up with the Cook County Forest Preserves trail system, Maine said.

For years, the .3 mile distance has remained closed to trail users, prompting some to simply turn back and others to detour along busy Milwaukee Avenue in Lincolnshire.

But after on-and-off discussions with Gus Boznos, owner of Par-King Skill Golf in Lincolnshire, the two sides reached an agreement. The forest preserves board approved the purchase of a 4.4-acre parcel for $50,000 per acre, officials said.

"It's the last 1,500 feet of the Des Plaines River Trail," said Lake County Forest Preserves Executive Director Alex Ty Kovach in a recent interview. "So we're very excited he's working with us to make this happen."

Construction could begin in spring 2015, with the trail section opening by mid-summer, Kovach said.

The segment of trail would be built west of the Des Plaines River, in a wooded section on the far eastern edge of Boznos' property, which is east of Milwaukee Avenue. After the acquisition, the total distance of the Des Plaines River Trail will be 31.4 miles, district officials said.

From Boznos' perspective, the deal was not impeded by the sale price, he said, but slowed by changes in the forest preserves district's leadership and shifting plans over the years.

Boznos wanted the district to build a fence along the trail to prevent children at Par-King from accessing the river and likewise keeping trespassers from his mini-golf course.

"I think it will all work out as long as we have a fence," Boznos said.

Both Boznos and his son, George Boznos, who works as Par-King's general manager, said safety concerns for those who detoured along Milwaukee Avenue factored into their decision to sell the property.

"It's going to be a benefit for the entire community," George Boznos said. "We know we were the last link. I know everyone wanted this. We wanted it as well."

"We came to a fair arrangement," he said. "And sometimes, fair arrangements take time."

The funding would come from a "land act fund," Kovach said, of money from a 2008 bond referendum intended for land acquisition.

The Des Plaines River Trail provides important access for people and improves quality of life, Kovach said. Protecting the watershed is also critical for flood reduction and biodiversity.

The board of commissioners met Tuesday morning in a picnic shelter in Wadsworth's Van Patten Woods, Lake County's first forest preserve, purchased in 1961 as a first step toward the creation of the Des Plaines River Trail and Greenway.

More than 50 years later, they bought the final piece.

"Even though it's very small, it's going to increase access for a lot of people," Maine said.